


Unbound

by Tatami_Hokes



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Galra Keith (Voltron), M/M, keith and lance get taken by the Galra I guess, lance is supportive and keith is a scary purple cat
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-26
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-09-02 11:14:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8665426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tatami_Hokes/pseuds/Tatami_Hokes
Summary: Escaping from the Galra, Keith and Lance crash-land on a deserted planet. Something isn't right, and they both seem to be changing in more ways than one.





	1. Prologue

“Keith?”  
A world revealed itself from the inky blackness which had surrounded him. A scene unveiled, piecing together, awash with peaceful greens and lazy yellows. There was an open field, a meadow, somewhere he’d seen before but he couldn’t remember the specifics. It was endless, and so bright he had to squint. There were two figures standing together, too far away for him to see who they were. They were painted anonymous by the light that seemed to be resonating from them. He knew it was a memory, however distant it persisted to be, but he often found himself here in dreams. A time before. He let the light warm him, felt his fingers in the dewy grass, the breeze washed over him like a wave of calm. There was no noise, just him, the scent of the grass and the warmth.  
“It’s time to wake up, my little hero.” A voice murmured by his ear, sweetly and lightly, it was carried away from him by the soft breeze. He knew that voice, he-  
He bolted awake, gulping down air as it met his lips. He gave himself a few seconds to calm down, to remember that it had been a dream and he had to go back now. Then, as he stared ahead, it was obvious that everything was wrong. The air smelt sterile, he was laying on something extremely cold. All he could see was the ceiling, which was glowing purple, with bright lights affixed over his head and aimed at his body. He squinted against them, and looked around. The room was cavernous, with strange instruments and machines lining the walls, crowding the room like a mechanical mob. All Galra tech. Not a good sign at all. He had been captured. Keith couldn’t remember how, or when.  
Most worryingly, he was strapped onto an examination table made of polished blue metal. He had to be in some kind of examination room. From what he could feel, though he was restricted, he didn’t have much going on in the way of clothes. He tried to be embarrassed, but too much of his brain was panicking and working a way out of this situation to care about his state of undress. Keith pulled his restraints taut to test their durability, but Galra tech was usually pretty sturdy. There was no way he could get out without help.  
“Ughh.”  
Keith strained to look to his left. There was another examination table to which Lance was strapped, his chest bare but his legs thankfully covered in black pants with the Galra symbol emblazoned on the sides. He was definitely in an examination room.  
“Lance?” Keith whispered. “Lance!”  
The blue paladin was out of it, his eyes rolling in his head. There was a large machine next to him like an IV drip, feeding a murky purple liquid into his teammates arm. Keith also had an IV, he could feel the catheter in the crook of his arm, itchy and foreign. Why wasn’t he being kept under like Lance?  
“Lance, wake up! Listen, I don’t know where we are, but we need to go, like right now.” Keith heard his fear edging into his voice, creating a small lump in his throat. Is this how Shiro had felt when he’d been captured?  
“Your friend isn’t going to wake.” A rasping voice slithered into the room, crawling under his skin. “He will sleep, because we want him to sleep.” Haggar said slowly, her hand hovering over Lance’s IV.  
Keith stared at the druid with contempt as she approached his table, her form throwing a shadow over him. “What do you want from us?”  
He couldn’t see her eyes, but her mouth turned up into a sharp-looking smile. “My original plan was to keep you until your fellow paladins came, so we could have the full set. You know how my master loves his lions.” Haggar glanced over at a screen above him, one that was producing sterile beeps in time with his heartbeat. He presumed it showed his vital signs. “They never came. We’re too far away for them to see you, poor boys.”  
Keith felt his heart drop even lower than it had before, he shivered against the cold examination table. “How long have I been here?” He muttered, unable to stop the question. The last thing he remembered was freeing the prisoners on one of the Galra ships with Lance. But this was something else, they were on their main ship now. Zarkon was on this ship. He heard the heart-rate monitor speed up.  
“You feel fear?” She cocked her head, and a yellow glowing eye was visible under her robe. “I’m very glad you got yourselves captured, though. Imagine my surprise when we took you in for experimentation, and my researchers informed me of your Galra heritage.”  
Keith glowered, straining against the cuffs on his arms. He glanced over to Lance, glad that he was still unconscious.  
“It was so very interesting.” She tapped a vial of blood, glowing faintly with quintessence. “Was it your mother? Or perhaps your father? What naughty little soldier found themselves an earth mate?”  
“I’m surprised you don’t know.” He replied steadily.  
She produced a gravelly huffing noise which took Keith a moment to realise was laughter. “Tell me, paladin. Why are you so embarrassingly human? I’d love to see your Galra side.”  
“I am human.” Keith insisted.  
Two of Haggar’s druids came into view, standing beside her like statues. “We’ll see what we can do about that.” She turned to leave.  
Keith yelled after her, “You can’t force me to become anything!”  
“I can. Forcing is what we Galra do, you should know that much. You can’t forge a powerful empire on kindness.” She withdrew from the room, the shadows swallowed her.  
The druids were soundless in their approach, holding out their skeletal purple hands.  
He tried to squirm away, to make himself small, but he was trapped. Held into place and observed.  
Their hands touched him, wrapping around his arms and his chest. His world flickered out.


	2. A fearsome effort

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! Here's a chapter! (Sorry it took so long, school is a thing again and it suuucks) Hope you like it!

Lance stood on the shore, watching the sea take the sand and give it back with each wave. It was hot, the warmth of the sun was carried by the breath of the wind, it ruffled his shirt and tousled his hair. It was always sunny here, that was where he got his permanent freckles from. His siblings had them too, a dusting of cocoa over their noses and cheeks. Their mother told them that they were kisses from the sun, though Lance used to scoff and laugh. He’d always been obsessed with space, he knew enough about the solar system to know that the sun didn’t kiss. 

He turned away from the sea, heading back up the dunes, back to where his sister was waiting for him amongst the grassy tufts poking up through the sand. She waved to him, her hair trailing with the breeze. He followed her away from the beach, into the tall grass of a meadow. 

“Mom is waiting for you.” She scolded, but it was through a grin. Her smile was infectious, one soon broke out on his face in return.

He saw a figure in the distance, though his sister didn't seem to notice. He waved, trying to catch the strangers attention. Though they were far away, the sun was bright enough to illuminate their face. 

It was a boy, with dark hair and heavy brows. His eyes seemed to glow, more so than the rest of him in the light of the low afternoon sun, like they were reflecting. They were almost yellow, like an animals. 

“Lance!” His sister seemed suddenly worried, tugging at his sleeve, “We need to go, like right now!” 

Lance frowned at her, but she had vanished. 

The boy was closer, his eyes glowing brighter than the burning sun behind them. “Help me,” He held out his hands, which were mottled purple at the fingertips. “Lance.”

Lance stumbled back. Was he a Galra? He knew the boy, he just couldn’t remember.

Why was he here? The last he could remember, he was in space, piloting the blue lion of Voltron. Why was he home?

LANCE!

It wasn’t real. The meadow and the boy were gone, the world plunged into darkness, like he was at the bottom of an ocean.

Lance strained to hear a voice, still swimming under the surface of consciousness. His thoughts scattered away from him, darting into the shadows like fleeing fish. He reached after them. 

“Wake up and help me! Lance!”

He knew that voice! Something chemical and foreign was keeping him from bursting to the surface, keeping him from leaving sleep behind. His body felt confined.

“LANCE!”

The voice was more urgent, helping him to realise that he was awake. He was awake.

He was awake.  
Keith.  
Keith was screaming. 

He tried to scramble out of bed, until he realised he was strapped down, and this wasn’t his bed.  
All he could hear was Keith’s agony, louder and bigger than any pain he felt. He strained to look around, finding his teammate strapped down like he was, on an examination table next to his. Druids stood over his convulsing body, their hands white knuckled holding him against the table. Pure purple energy was flowing from their palms and into Keith. It crackled across his skin, leaving bruised violet lichtenberg figures in their wake. They were hurting him. 

“Stop it!” Lance tried competing with Keith for the Druids attention, but they ignored him. His voice was drowned out by Keith’s hoarse screams. 

Keith suddenly fell silent, but that was worse. If he was screaming, at least that meant he was conscious, alive. Lance spared a glance at the other examination table and saw that Keith had gone limp in his restraints. Blood trickled from his ears, though his eyes were open, glowing an eerie iridescent yellow. He was looking without seeing. Well, that can only be bad. 

“Hang in there, buddy.” Lance muttered under his breath as he strained against the cuffs. It was to no avail. Funnily enough, the Galra were pretty good at keeping prisoners. Shiro must’ve been a doozy. 

He looked desperately around the room, taking in the scary looking Galra symbol glowing above him, the machines lining the walls, IV lines trailing across the room and pumping foreign liquids into him. How did they get here? He noted the rhythmic beeping of a machine behind him, probably an advanced Galra version of a heart rate monitor. 

If they worked the same as the ones on earth, he had an idea. 

He let his lungs deflate until there was no air in them, then held his breath. Almost immediately, an ache started in his chest as his body realised there was no oxygen being taken in. He held his breath until his lungs started to burn, until he felt that primal panic grasp his heart, it’s rate increasing slowly. 

When dark spots crept in around the edges of his vision like a shadowy frame, he finally heard the heart monitor go into overdrive.  
An alarm rang out, alerting the Galra to the severe acceleration in his heart rate, the sudden drop in oxygen.  
He groaned, dropping his chin into his chest, pretending to pass out. Maybe that’ll get those creeps attention away from Keith. Lance slumped against the table, listening to the beeps evening out on Keith’s heart rate monitor. 

The Druids withdrew from Keith, gliding over to Lance’s table instead. He couldn’t see their faces, but he didn’t need to to know that they weren’t happy with being interrupted. Lance kept still, keeping his act up. They came so close he could smell the energy lingering on them, like the earthy smell of lightening grounded and burning. One of them leaned over him and pulled his eyelid open, observing Lance’s rolled back iris. After seeming satisfied that he was passed out, the Druid pressed a hand to the machine’s mechanism, releasing Lance’s restraints. 

The Druid pulled the IV out of Lance’s arm and begun to roll his examination table out the room. Just as the door opened with a pneumatic hiss to let them out, Lance leapt up, using his momentum to kick the closest Druid away. 

He scrambled across the room to Keith’s bed, searching desperately for the release button for the restraints. He found it on the side of the strange machine, a glowing Galra symbol, probably only activated by a Galra. It wouldn’t hurt to try, though. 

The Druid caught Lance’s arm as he tried to push the button, its claws biting into his skin. He was screaming before he even realised the Druid was using its power. It stung, but mostly it hurt bone-deep, making his muscles seize up. He collapsed after enduring it for less than a second. He wondered in his painful haze how on earth Keith had managed to stay conscious for so long with three Druids hurting him. 

It didn’t matter, Lance’s slapdash escape efforts had failed. Well, I can’t say I’m surprised, he thought grimly. He stayed conscious long enough to feel the Druids wrench his hands behind his back. It was a half-assed plan after all. 

 

-

 

Keith emerged from unconsciousness less gracefully than he had the first time. More of a tumble into the waking world than a gentle push.He held a finger to his temple, relieving the pressure from the headache that had blossomed there. He found that he was no longer strapped to an examination table, rather, he was propped against the wall of a small cell. Three out of four of the walls were transparent, and he spotted a couple of Galra stationed outside his door. Why had they moved him? And where was Lance? 

They’d been together before, but now he was completely alone in his cell. At least he was dressed now, albeit in the traditional Galra prisoner garb which reminded him of Shiro and made his heart ache. 

“You’re awake.” 

Keith looked up, his head reeling from even that much effort. Haggar stood outside his cell surrounded by her Druids. “What’dya want.” He mumbled, finding that even his tongue wouldn’t obey him. What had they done to him in that examination room?

“I’m simply curious. A paladin of Voltron is one of us. This has potential.” Haggar spoke in a low voice, punctuating her statement with a sweeping gesture. He couldn’t tell if she was talking to him or to the Druids that crowded behind her like amateur nurses shadowing a doctor.

“Mm’not one of you.” Keith replied, he couldn’t make the words come out with the angry energy he wanted, he was too tired. It was a shame, because he was angry. Angrier than he could ever remember being.

Haggar laughed, it grated his ears, “That much was apparent when you came here. You looked so human, no wonder your comrades suspected nothing.’ 

Keith’s eyes narrowed, “Looked?”

Haggar grinned. It set him on edge, the sort of smile that inspired fear rather than joy. “We helped you to realise your full potential.” 

He caught a glimpse of himself from the corner of his eye, reflected in the glass of his cell. He looked human, like he always had. He cast her a confused look, too scared to mask his emotions though he knew it would cost him.

“We increased your percentage of Galra DNA. We can’t work miracles, but my Druids managed to tip the balance. Hopefully with more treatment, you’ll become a full Galra.” 

Keith had woken up properly now, ignoring the pulsing headache, “Why not keep me human, then my teammates won’t suspect me as a Galra spy,” he tried to reason. If he became a Galra, there was no going back. 

“Don’t assume we’d believe you’d go willingly. No, if you’re fully Galra, we have ways to control you.” Haggar’s clawed hands lit with sparking purple lightning.

“You’re right. I’d never betray Voltron.” Keith pulled himself up, though Haggar still towered over him, the Druids behind her regarding him with glowing eyes. 

“Restrain him.” She came close, her white hair floating in the static from the power buzzing in the air. “It’s time for the last stage of treatment.” 

Keith definitely didn’t like the sound of that. If he looked human, he could hide what he actually was. To be Galra was to be the enemy, Voltron’s enemy. They’d never trust him again. Not to mention the fact that the Galra could control him that way. He just wished he’d been born purely human, and if he had been fated to share his DNA with a distant alien race, why did it have to be the enemies of the entire galaxy? 

He scrambled away, pressing into the corner of the cell, watching Haggar’s power leap from her fingertips. 

The lightening struck his skin, though this time it didn’t hurt. It felt like it was sinking into him, empowering him, electrifying his bloodstream. He growled, low and animalistic. Just because it wasn’t painful didn’t mean it wasn’t hurting him. 

But something was definitely changing, he could feel it in his bones, on his skin. He held his hands in front of his face and watched his fingers elongate into claws, his skin as it mottled with purple. “No,” He breathed, and noticed how sharp his teeth seemed to be on his tongue. “Stop it.” 

Haggar’s grin stretched as she watched him transform. 

“Stop it!” Keith shot forward, ramming his shoulder into Haggar. She stumbled back into the Druids behind her, knocking them out of the doorway. He pushed through the gap between the aliens and the door. He managed two steps into the hallway, then heard them kick into action.

“He’s valuable!” He heard Haggar screech behind him, then he was grabbed. He didn't miss a beat, spinning round and kicking his assailant away, satisfied when he felt them crumple to the floor. 

He used his newly grown claws to swipe at anyone who got too close, putting down Haggar’s entire entourage within seconds. After casting his eyes around the hallway and finding that Haggar herself had disappeared, probably to save herself. 

Well that was just too bad. 

He grabbed the Druid closest to him by their robes, slamming them against the nearest cell, “Where’s the blue paladin?” He demanded. 

The Druid merely groaned, already unconscious. Keith growled and let the robes go, watching the Druid drop. It wasn’t enough. He was so angry. He needed to find Haggar and make her pay, find Zarkon, put an end to their fight. He could do it. He felt more powerful than he ever had before, an energy coursing through him. Maybe it was to do with his transformation, but he didn't care. He could do it. 

An alarm started blaring just as he spotted a control console. It could open the cells, which would give him the cover to escape. Galra soldiers streaming into the corridor, brandishing scary looking weapons. Keith charged them, dropping the first soldier and dashing to scoop up his weapon. Some sort of blaster. All he had to do was get past them, and he was free.

He shot down the soldiers closest to him, then rushed the crowd, lashing out with his claws. He fired shots into diaphragms, catching the soldiers’s arms as they tried to counter him. He spun and slashed, taking his anger out on the men. It didn’t take long before the squadron were littering the floor. He aimed across the room at the control console and shot. 

The alarm fell silent. The cells that lined the hallway all opened simultaneously, releasing prisoners of different races and ages. He stood and watched the crowd of aliens run past him, searching for Lance’s face amongst the prisoners, many of which were races he’d never seen before. What did the Galra want with all these people? 

“Lance! Where are you?” Keith yelled into the crowd. He’d waited for too long, most of the prisoners had gone and more Galra were flooding the corridor. 

A soldier caught his shoulder and threw him at the wall. His breath was forced from him with the impact. The soldier aimed his gun at Keith’s head. 

“You’re too much trouble. Best to put you down now,” the soldier said, staring him down with steely eyes. 

Keith growled, his hands curling into claws. He wouldn’t go down until he found his comrade. A shot rang out, though it didn’t hit Keith. The soldier in front of him crumpled like a puppet whose string was cut. 

Lance stood over the unconscious soldier, a Galra gun hanging from his trigger finger, an IV line hanging from the crook of his arm. He seemed to notice Keith slumped in front of him, and suddenly the gun was held up, aimed. 

“Lance!” Keith held out his hands in surrender, “Lance, it’s me! It’s Keith!”

Lance’s eyes widened, his pupils shrinking in fear, “You’re-?” He held his aim on the gun, and for a second Keith thought he was going to freak out and shoot him anyway. 

Then he dropped his weapon, and a sheepish expression crossed his face, “The mullet should’ve been a giveaway.” 

Keith shot him a look, and Lance laughed, despite the fact that his lip was split and he was standing and holding his side in a way that suggested he had a cracked rib. “I always knew what you were, now you just look the part. Anyway, no time to chat. We should get going.” Lance held his hand out, an olive branch. Keith accepted.

“In any case, look. Whatever they did to make you like this, it’s wearing off.” Lance said, Keith was slightly hurt by the relief in his voice.

He looked at himself in the polished window into the nearest cell and saw that Lance was right. His eyes were back to normal, his hands no longer claws. The purple skin was fading away. Outwardly, he was human again. 

But how? And why had it only lasted for as long as he’d fought?

 

-

 

“I was looking for you. I thought you were dead or something.” Keith muttered as Lance lead him through the rows of cells. 

“That’s a funny way of pronouncing thank you, is it because you’re texan?” Lance shot over his shoulder. 

Keith groaned, though Lance was right. He’d saved him. “What? No! Where are we going?” 

“I’ve already got us an escape pod all set up. Guess you were too busy hanging out with your Galra pals to help?” 

“I wasn’t-!” Keith choked out. “What about our lions, we need to retrieve them!” 

“We’ll come back for them. I’ve already looked, the hangar is overflowing with Galra goons, it would be impossible for us to get them back. Even with your Galra-ness.” Lance pulled him around a corner and back into the wall. They watched a patrol march past, both holding their breath. 

They fell silent until they made it to the escape pods, through the narrow hallways of the Galra ship. Neither of them knew which Galra ship it was, perhaps even the flagship. Lance stopped in front of an escape pod whose interior was lit, a small cabin with a cockpit for the pilot. 

They crowded into the small space, Lance going for the controls. 

“Oh no you don’t.” Keith said, “You can only just fly your lion, I don’t want to escape here just to die after you crash us into an asteroid field.” 

Lance held a hand over his heart like he’d been shot, “Rude.” 

“True.” Keith assured. He flicked the engine on, preparing the cabin. He secured a helmet over his head and tossed one to Lance. Hopefully they would land on a planet with a safe atmosphere, or get picked up by the Castle and they would end up tossing them, but it didn’t hurt.

Lance was closing the door and activating the airlock when he froze up. His shoulders tensed. “Keith, it’s time to go.”

Keith looked over and saw Haggar and a few soldiers standing outside the door. Their clothes whipped around from the power of the jets. 

To his surprise, Haggar didn’t shut down the escape pod. She spoke. Keith could barely hear her over the roar of the engines, but it was clear enough. 

“I have your mother.” She grinned.

Keith launched the pod. As he did, Haggar’s men shot at them, each hit making the pod shake. An alarm tripped off, warning them of the damage to the pods hull. It didn’t matter, they were out of range, and home free. The Galra ship was a small smudge, barely discernible from the dark backdrop of the galaxy. 

“I’ll try to contact Allura.” Lance grabbed the communication device on the wall of the pod. He didn’t saying anything about what Haggar had said, though he’d surely heard it. 

There were a lot of unspoken questions in the silence that followed. Neither of them wanted to address them. Keith concentrated on flying, Lance concentrated on reaching Voltron. They both tried not to think. 

Keith watched a bright light appear from back where the Galra ship was. It got bigger and brighter. Keith realised what it was at the second before impact. “Down!” As he tackled Lance to the ground, the glass in the cockpit burst inwards, covering them both in glass. The oxygen was pulled from the cabin and half the pod was smoking, the electronics sparking. 

The alarm screamed in their ears.


End file.
